Tomorrow is never promised

I woke up to dozens of messages on WhatsApp on Saturday morning. Photos and footage of utter
devastation, sheer horror, building demolished, families decimated, children crying and their parents
trying very hard to calm them down. Some are counting the dead. Others, slightly less unfortunate
are trying to catch up on sleep in the middle of the street, worried the earthquake might retaliate
and they would find themselves buried under the walls of their own homes.

Morocco is going through the biggest tragedy it has ever lived since the Agadir earthquake. The
whole world was shocked at the scale of human and material damage they have been witness to.

Faced with the harrowing pictures, one cannot help but selfishly think first of one’s close relatives
and friends. Let’s not normalize the states of the regions that got hurt through this natural disaster,
the majority of them do not have regular access to running water and have no electricity at all; no
healthcare centers, no public transports, even the roads are in bad conditions which was an obstacle
to the civil protection to give aid for those who got affected by the quake.

Then, panic suddenly makes away for sadness and sorrow. You helplessly watch things unfold. You
follow the body counts as more and more bodies are found in the middle of the rubble following
untold damage and destruction. And those, are perhaps the lucky ones as more and more people are
slowly dying in the debris where help cannot reach.

Now that the dust is settling on one of the saddest chapters in the history of Morocco, let’s say how
ironic a little moment such as this one made people forget about their problems and struggles that
meant nothing in front of a small earthquake and god’s power. This experience reminded everyone
that statues and riches don’t follow us to our graves nor do life treasures, but our good deeds and
actions Do.

But the most important thing is that we knew that we mourn as one as Moroccans, and land hands
through good and hard times, which is something lots of nations don’t have.

So, it is time to look into how we can translate our sympathy into concrete actions to bring some
comfort to those lives who needs us.